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This is not a true sour dough as we do not have the time but it does contain some sour “leaven” which is the fermentation culture made ready for bread making. This will give extra depth to the dough, and heighten the flavour considerably, as well as helping to moisten the end result.

Starter

To make sour dough there are three distinct requirements. Firstly you need a starter, this is then fed regularly to keep the wild yeasts inside it alive. A starter can be made simply by mixing flour and water in even quantities and leaving it in a tub at room temperature to begin to ferment as the local wild yeasts start to take effect. Alternatively you can acquire an active starter from someone else who already has some.

Ferment or Leven

The ferment or leaven stage is the preparatory step to making bread. Basically it is a 50/50 mixture of water and flour with some added starter – the starter seeds the fermentation into the new mixture and because of all the available food for the yeasts it ferments rapidly.

Dough

The dough phase is achieved by adding enough flour, salt and water to the highly active leaven to get a nice wet dough to form. This is then kneaded in the usual way, by hand or by machine to make a dough. This is then proved, shaped, proved again and finally baked.

Kit – Mixing bowl, dough scraper, scales, proving tray and blade.

Ingredients

  • 250g leaven
  • 500g strong flour
  • 250g water
  • 12g salt

Method

Make the dough and allow it to rise – this could take 3 or 4 hours or longer depending on temperature and how active your leaven is.

Know it back and shape into a loaf shape or two smaller ones, placing it in a proving basket to support its shape whilst it rises again.

Once fully proved – very delicate and aerated, at least doubled in size – bake in a very hot oven with the ESSE oven steam vent closed for around 28 minutes. Oven temperature around 200 degrees c (ESSE cooker dial guide to be at the low end of HOT).

Tim Maddam’s Top Sourdough Tips

  • Invest the time – it takes between eight and 12 hours to make a good sourdough from scratch. Proving takes four times as long as for a yeast-risen dough
  • Feed your starter or ‘leaven’ regularly – especially if it’s been in the fridge for a while. This is the best way to adjust the sourness to your individual taste
  • The wetter the better – a wet dough mix may be harder to handle, but it will make a better loaf
  • Watch the dough – not the clock. The dough will tell you when it’s ready to bake – it’s just a matter of practice
  • Don’t scrimp on the salt – otherwise your bread will taste bland
  • Respect the dough – handle it gently – take care not to knock the air out of it
  • Use semolina to minimise sticky ‘dough fingers’ without drying out the mixture
  • Make sure the oven is up to temperature well before the bread goes in – between 180˚C and 200˚C (aim for the ESSE cooker dial guide to be at the low end of HOT) – depending on the finish you want
  • Introduce steam to your oven. Close the ESSE oven steam vent.

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Wild garlic is only available in the spring. You can substitute with flavouring it with some chopped rosemary and 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Ingredients

  • 250g strong white bread flour
  • 150ml warm water
  • 15g fresh yeast
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon honey2 tab
  • lespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons of chopped wild garlic leaves

Method

  1. Preheat ESSE to 200C/ESSE dial guide HOT, aim for the dial reading to be in the middle of HOT (ESSE oven steam vent closed).
  2. Place your flour in a large mixing bowl and add the salt, olive oil and wild garlic if using.
  3. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the honey.
  4. Add the yeast mix to the flour and mix with a table knife. Add a little more water if it is too dry or some flour if it is too wet.
  5. Turn it out onto your work surface and knead to a smooth dough.
  6. Put the dough back into the mixing bowl and place a clean cloth over the bowl. Put the bowl at the back of the ESSE on the left hand side.
  7. When it has doubled in bulk, knead until smooth and elastic.
  8. Roll out to a shape that you like and place it on an oiled baking sheet. Put back next to the ESSE to prove again until it has doubled in bulk.
  9. Then place direct on the bottom of top ESSE oven and bake until golden brown all over, approximately 15 – 20 minutes, depending on the shape of your loaf.

Happy cooking on your ESSE.

Baking tip for bread making

Gently warm your bread flour at the back of the ESSE, before you start to make the dough. (Speeds up the proving process)
I love to use fresh yeast, better results.
Cover the bread dough for first proving using a plastic shower cap, it fits perfectly over your bowl.
Let your bread dough prove at the back of the ESSE cooker, left hand side.
Bake your loaf on the base of the ESSE, top oven 200C with the vent CLOSED which keeps all the steam in, perfect for cooking the perfect loaf.
Happy baking in your ESSE.

Recipe by Philippa Vine of Bluebell Farmhouse Kitchen.

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Ingredients

  • 1 recipe of vanilla ice cream/ chosen flavour
  • 1 recipe of chocolate or plain sponge

For the meringue

  • 2 free-range egg whites
  • 115g caster sugar

Method

  1. For the meringue, heat the egg whites and sugar together in a bowl over a pan of water until it reaches 75°C. Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk with a hand whisk until thick, glossy and cool.
  2. To assemble the Alaska, cut circles of the sponge cake, place a scoop of ice cream on top, leaving a small border. Spoon the meringue all over the ice cream, ensuring there are no gaps, and use the back of a spoon to make a swirl pattern.
  3. To cook the baked Alaska, preheat the oven to ESSE dial reading middle of HOT / 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 or use the grill place the tray in the oven and keeping an eye on it cook golden-brown all over. Make sure not to melt the ice cream!

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Hay was originally used in cooking as an insulator. In grand Victorian kitchens, roasts were taken from the oven and packed in boxes lined with hay, to keep them hot when transported to shooting lunches and elaborate picnics. It was noted that the hay imparted a distinctive and delightful flavour – worth exploring for its own sake. Mutton or lamb baked in hay like this is not just tasty but unusually moist and tender.

Serves

N/A

Ingredients

  • a few handfuls of hay
  • 125g soft butter
  • several good sprigs each of rosemary, marjoram and thyme, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 leg of mutton or good-sized leg of lamb
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Choose a deep roasting tin, preferably with a lid (if you don’t have one with a lid, you can use foil). Line it generously with loose hay, about 5–6cm deep.

Put the soft butter in a bowl, add the chopped herbs, garlic, plenty of black pepper and a little salt and mix well. Smear in a thick and even layer all over the mutton or lamb. Place the meat on its nest of hay and then cover with the rest of the hay. Cover with the lid, or a double layer of foil wrapped well around the edge of the dish. Make sure there are no loose bits of hay poking out (they may catch fire).

Bake in the centre of the top oven reading lower part of very hot for 2–2/12 hours, depending on the size of the leg. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for at least 20 minutes. Then take off the lid, scrape away the blackened hay and carve as normal. Any juices from the pan can be poured off and used for gravy, although I tend to forego the gravy, preferring to serve this dish with boiled flageolet beans heated through in the juices and fat from the meat.

This Recipe has been taken from the ‘River Cottage Cook Book’, Page 245. To buy a copy of this book click here.

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This is a great variation on the classic Italian bread – you have to use a LOT of oil… no, really.

I stole this recipe wholesale from my good friend Robin Rea at the Rusty Pig in Ottery St Mary, Devon. I’ve tweaked it a little to make it mine, but Robin still deserves credit for giving me the idea.

Ingredients

  • 450g strong white organic flour
  • 75g fine organic semolina
  • 10g salt
  • 350ml water
  • 15g dried fast action yeast organic
  • 10 strands good saffron
  • Sea salt, rosemary and really good olive oil.

Method

Soak the saffron in the water and add the yeast – leave for at least an hour.

Mix the flour with the semolina and add the salt – now add the yeast and saffron water and work into a soft and lightly sticky dough.

Allow the dough to rise once for two to three hours depending on room temperature, then carefully transfer it to a non-stick baking surface.

Lightly oil your hands and shape the dough so that all its edges are tucked under.

Now oil the dough well and cover lightly as it proves again.

When the dough has proved almost to the point of collapse, add a little more oil and gently tease the dough outwards using your finger tips to create indentations and stretch the dough. Imagine you have an elastic band holding all your fingers together and you need to push them apart – that’s the motion to use.

Oil yet again (yes, really) and sprinkle with sea salt and chopped rosemary then leave to stand for just another few minutes before baking in a fierce oven at 220 ˚C/ESSE dial guide HOT (Aim for the dial reading to be at the top end of HOT) without steam for 21 minutes.

Recipe provided by Tim Maddams.

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Getting a great roast potato is a very personal thing – some like them ultra-crunchy, some like them a bit soft and others seem to like a mixture of both but for me there are three things that make for the ultimate roast potato. First – I like the skins left on, secondly I like to add some garlic, bay, thyme and black pepper to the cooking water at the boiling stage and lastly I like to use lard or beef dripping along with a little rape seed oil to enhance flavour and crispness.

You need to have your oven hot and any vents open to allow stream to leave the oven chamber otherwise the spuds will go soggy and never get crispy.

Ingredients

  • 1kg good Maris Piper type potatoes – Estima are another good variety, anything will do at a push but a good floury variety that holds together as well is where you want to be. Scrub them well but do not peel them and then cut them into chunks.
  • 1 fresh bay leaf
  • 8 black peppercorns
  • 1 bulb of garlic – cut horizontally through the middle
  • a good sprig of fresh thyme
  • Salt
  • 100g lard
  • 20 ml rape seed oil

Method

Place the potatoes in a large sauce pan and cover with cold water. Bring rapidly to the boil and add the herbs, garlic and peppercorns. Simmer until mostly tender then remove from the heat and drain well.

Whilst the potatoes are draining place the fat and oil in a large roasting dish and pop this in the oven to heat.

When the oil and fat are good and hot tip in the potatoes carefully and make sure they all get a good coating of the hot fat. Pop them back in the oven and roast for around 45 mins until crisp and golden – turning once or twice during that time.

Season well with a little salt and serve.

ESSE electric range cooker demonstration by Tim Maddams, private chef, writer, cookery teacher and presenter.

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For the choux pastry

  • Choux Pastry
  • 85 ml / 3 fl. oz water
  • 85 ml / 3 fl. oz milk
  • 65g / 2½ oz butter
  • 100g / 3½ oz plain flour or gluten free plain flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated Parmesan

Method

  1. Dissolve the butter in the water and milk and bring to the boil. Tip in the flour and stir over the heat until the mixture comes away from the side of the pan. Leave to cool a little.
  2. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
  3. Heat the oven to 200°C, ESSE dial reading middle of HOT. Line baking sheets with baking paper, then pipe small 4cm high blobs of pastry onto the sheets, spaced a little apart. Sprinkle lightly with Parmesan then bake for 20 minutes until puffed and golden.

For the filling

  • 300g strong cheese, grated
  • 1½ tsp English mustard
  • Large splash Worcestershire sauce
  • 4 medium egg yolks
  • 120ml good quality local beer

Method

  1. Boil the beer and reduce it down to a tablespoon in volume.
  2. Whizz all the filling ingredients to a thick paste using a food processor.
  3. Put the mixture in a piping bag fitted with a very narrow nozzle.
  4. When the gougères are golden, remove from the oven. As soon as you can handle them, poke a hole in the base of each one with a metal skewer, then pipe no more than 1 tsp filling into each one.
  5. Set the gougères upright again and return to the oven for 5-8 minutes until deep golden.
  6. Remove from the oven, leave to stand for 2-3 minutes, then serve, warning people to watch out for the hot filling.

Recipe provided by Philippa Vine, Bluebell Farmhouse Kitchen.

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This recipe highlights the gentle method of melting of the butter and chocolate on an ESSE induction hob, no water bath required.

Ingredients

  • 150g flaked almonds
  • 50g butter, melted
  • 40g plain flour
  • 90g caster sugar
  • 120ml double cream
  • 30ml honey
  • 115g dried fruit
  • 50g dark chocolate

Method

  1. Cooking them in the ESSE oven at 170C / ESSE dial reading to be in the middle of MODERATE.
  2. Mix all the ingredients together.
  3. Spoon into round non stick tins, flatten down with the back of the spoon.
  4. Bake for about 15 to 20 mins until golden.
  5. Remove from oven, allow to cool.
  6. Remove from the tin and place on a cooling rack.
  7. Melt chocolate and coat the flat side of the florentine. Chill to set the chocolate.

Recipe provided by Philippa Vine, Bluebell Farmhouse Kitchen.

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Children will enjoy making these buttery biscuits with currants and spice for family and friends. They are also perfect to wrap gifts.

Makes

20 – 25

Ingredients

  • 125g softened butter
  • 75g caster sugar, plus 1-2 tbsp extra for sprinkling
  • 1 egg, separated
  • 200g plain flour
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
  • grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 75g currants
  • 2 tbsp milk

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Esse Dial Guide HOT. (Aim for the dial reading to be in the middle of HOT).
  2. Beat the butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk then gently stir in the flour, cinnamon, mixed spice, lemon zest and currants. Gradually stir in the milk until the dough starts to come together… you may need slightly less or more of the milk.
  3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll out until about 5mm thick then stamp out the biscuits using a round 7.5cm cutter or shape of your choice.
  4. Place on 2-3 greased baking trays and cook in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven. Whisk the egg white just a little to break up, brush lightly over the biscuits and sprinkle with the caster sugar. Return to the oven for a further 5 minutes until just golden. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
  5. Store in an airtight tin for 2-3 days.

Get ahead!

The biscuits can be made ahead and stored in an airtight tin for 2-3 days. Freshen by placing them in a warm oven for 3-4 minutes.

Recipe created by Carol Bowen Ball the UK’s first bariatric cook.

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The ESSE EC4i fan oven cooks Tim Maddams’ garlic and focaccia perfectly. Learn how with this mouth-watering instruction video.

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Cooking bread in the Esse is an absolute joy. I love it. I don’t bother with loaf tins I just shape the bread, give it a final prove and get it straight on the floor of the hot oven. Cooking it this way gives the most fantastic crust with a deeper, well developed flavour.

You’ll need to crank the oven up high bread; the higher part of ‘very hot’ is good.

This is my standard loaf that I make at home.

Serves

N/A

Ingredients

  • 750g white strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 250g whole meal flour
  • 10g powdered dried yeast
  • 20g fine salt
  • 600ml warm water
  • A little sunflower oil

Method

Combine the flour, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the water and, with one hand, mix to a rough dough. Adjust the consistency if you need to, with a little more flour or water, to make a soft, easily kneadable, sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and clean your hands.

Knead until the dough is smooth, stretchy and no longer sticky – about 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a tight round. Oil the surface of the dough, put it in the wiped-out mixing bowl, cover the bowl with cling film and leave to ferment and rise until doubled in size, which should take about an hour.

Pre-heat the oven get the dial up to very hot. Deflate the dough by tipping it onto the work surface and pressing all over with your hands.

Divide the dough into 2 or 3 equal pieces. Shape into nice even rounds, coat with whole meal flour and Leave to prove for a further 30 minutes, or until nearly doubled in size.

Use a bread knife the gently score the loaves across their tops, this will help them to rise in the oven. Make sure your oven floor is clean and free of racks. Carefully lift each loaf and place on the floor of the oven, being careful not to burn yourself as you go.

Cook for 40 to 50 minutes, until well coloured. Remove the loaves and cool on a wire rack.

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Serves

Six people

Ingredients

  • 1x 8″ loose base tart case

For the short crust

  • 150 g of butter
  • 300 g plain flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 egg yolk
  • About 150ml cold milk

For the filling

  • About 750 g of picked nettle tips that have been washed
  • 1 large organic onion finely sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic or 3 – 6 wild garlic leaves finely chopped
  • 100g hard sheep’s or goat’s cheese grated
  • 1 pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • A good knob of butter
  • Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • Squeeze of lemon juice
  • 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks
  • 200ml cream
  • 100ml milk

Method

To make the short crust

Place the flour, butter and salt in a food processor and pulse to a bread crumb consistency.

Add the egg yolk followed by the milk in a gradual stream.

Stop as soon as the doe comes together.

Turn out and knead a couple of times.

Wrap and chill in the fridge for half an hour.

Roll out the pastry and line your tart case. Leave the edges over hanging. (You can cut these off later. I find this eliminates the need for baking beans)

Prick the base with a fork and bake blind for about 15 mins on the floor of the top oven reading ‘HOT’. (This will help to dry out the pastry base) or until the base is dry but not coloured. Trim the edges.

The filling

Blanch the nettle tips in boiling water for 2 mins. Remove and refresh in a large bowl of iced water. Drain and squeeze excess water from the nettles.

Roughly chop the nettles. Melt the butter in a pan over heat and soften, lightly colour the onion, chilli and garlic. Add the chopped nettles and season with lemon juice salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Spoon the filling into the tart case, top with the cheese.

Combine your eggs and yolks with the cream and season to taste.

Fill the tart case with the custard.

Bake straight away at 180c for about half an hour.

The custard should be just set when you shake the tin.

Allow it to cool before you eat it. It’s much better then.

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A firm River Cottage favourite. It ranks up there with fish pie for comfort food but, as it’s a bit more stylish and doesn’t have any potato in it, we serve it as a starter course. Be careful not to overcook the fish, it really only takes about 5 minutes.

Serves

Four to six people

Ingredients

Shortcrust pastry

  • 250g plain flour
  • 125g cold organic butter, cut into small cubes
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 egg yolk, plus beaten egg for glazing
  • About 100ml cold milk

Filling

  • 1 smoked pollack fillet, about 200g
  • Up to 1 litre whole milk
  • Knob of butter
  • 2 English onions, finely sliced
  • A large handful of young spinach
  • 100g mature cheddar, grated
  • 250ml double cream
  • 2 medium eggs, plus 2 medium yolks, lightly beaten
  • Salt and pepper

Method

To make the pastry, put the flour, butter and salt in a food processor and pulse until the mixture has the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk, start the processor again and start adding the milk in a thin stream. Watch carefully and stop adding the milk as soon as the dough comes together. Tip out of the processor, knead a couple of times to create a smooth ball of dough, then wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 170/gas 3/ESSE dial reading MODERATE. Roll out the pastry thinly and use to line a 25cm-diameter tart tin with a removable base. Leave the excess pastry hanging over the edge.

Prick the base in several places with a fork. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the pastry looks dry and cooked. Remove from the oven, brush the pastry with beaten egg, then return to the oven and bake until golden (about 5 minutes). This helps to seal the pastry and prevent any of the tart filling leaking out. Trim off the excess pastry with a small, very sharp knife. Leave the oven at 170/gas 3/ESSE dial reading MODERATE.

Put the pollack in a pan and pour over enough milk to just cover it. Bring the milk to a simmer. Taking care not to let the milk boil, cook the fish just until it will come apart in flakes – about 5 minutes. Remove the fish from the milk and leave to cool. Don’t discard the milk – strain it and set aside.

While the pollack is cooling, heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the onions. Fry gently, without letting them brown, until soft. Drop the spinach into a pan of boiling water and cook until wilted. Drain and, once cool enough to handle, squeeze dry and chop.

Flake the pollack into a bowl and add the grated cheddar, onions and spinach. Mix well, then put the mixture into the tart case. Mix 250ml of the strained fish poaching milk with the cream and eggs. Season with salt and pepper and pour over the pollack mixture.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until set and browned. Serve warm or cold.

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Serves

Four people

Ingredients

  • 1 medium squash
  • 12 sage leaves
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • Olive oil
  • 50 g butter
  • 250g of fresh ceps or other boletus
  • Small bunch of wild rocket washed
  • 200g soft blue cheese such as Roquefort or Saint Agure
  • French dressing to serve

Method

Peel a large squash, such as Butternut or Crown Prince. Cut into 1 inch chunks, and place in a roasting tin along with the bruised sage leaves, the garlic, peeled and thickly sliced, 150ml of olive oil and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper.

Roast the squash in a pre-heated oven, set at 200 degrees, for 45 mins or until soft and coloured round the edges. Add 1 Tbls of olive oil along with the butter to a frying pan set over a medium heat, throw in the mushrooms that have been trimmed and cleaned and sliced, season them lightly with salt and pepper, fry for 4-5 mins or until cooked through. In a large mixing bowl combine the cooked squash, mushrooms, rocket and cheese. Lightly dress with the vinaigrette. Toss this all together and divide between the plates.

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